Fred Sirieix and Jay Blades will take part in Strictly Come Dancing’s Christmas special

Fred Sirieix and Jay Blades will take part in the upcoming Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special, it was announced on Monday’s episode of It Takes Two.

The First Dates maître d’, 49, and the Repair Shop star, 51, are the first celebrities to be unveiled for the upcoming festive show.

It will see six couples take to the floor to perform a seasonal routine in a bid to impress judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Shirley Ballas.

Fred, who will dance with Dianne Buswell, said: ‘I absolutely love Christmas so I’m delighted to be taking part in the Strictly Christmas special and to be partnered with the magnificent Dianne.

‘I hope my dance moves bring some Christmas joy to everybody watching at home and don’t make the judges say, “Bah, Humbug!”‘

Dianne was recently forced to make an early exit from the dance show’s latest series as her on-screen partner Robert Webb pulled out two years after open-heart surgery.

She recently told Women’s Health: ‘[Robert’s] health is obviously the most important thing in all this. I’m just glad that it was caught in time so there’s no damage to his heart.’ 

Meanwhile, Jay is ‘super excited’ to be on the show but his professional partner, Luba Mushtuk, may have her work cut out after he admitted the only moves he knows are ‘dad dancing’.

He gushed: ‘I’m super excited, times two! One, because I’m going to learn a new dance apart from the ‘Dad’ dance, and two because I’m going to be on Strictly!

‘It’s a show that I’ve always admired, and I can’t wait to see how I perform!’ 

The coronavirus pandemic meant there was no Strictly Christmas special in 2020, but since 2014, the festive episodes have seen former contestants go head-to-head.

In 2019, series 15 runner-up Debbie McGee won with Kevin Clifton, while in 2018, Aton Merrygold – who had also taken part in series 15 – won with Janette Manrara.